Artists often depict Dreaming narratives and their totemic animals as expressions of identity and connection, signifying their place in the world. In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies, totems define roles and responsibilities, their relationships with each other and with creation. Integrated into spiritual traditions and societal structures, these kin-centric connections sustain Australia’s celebrated biodiversity. Through these sophisticated systems of environmental maintenance, individuals are assigned totems that determine specific roles in the protection of an animal’s habitat and restrictions on hunting.

Totemic relationships and their representations vary for each people, clan or family group, particular to the culture and aesthetics of the region. Throughout this display, the diversity of artistic expression is celebrated through visual connections between distinct representations of the same totemic animals from different regions. Ranging from paintings and ceramic works to weavings and carvings, these works show a variety of approaches that reflect the individual and collective visual language of their creators.

Thaynakwith artist Thanakupi’s ceramic forms are iconic depictions of totemic creation stories of her Country at Napranum, near Weipa in western Cape York. Her hieroglyphic designs evoke traditional sand and body painting to embody the likeness of significant animals, including the hawk and willy wagtail. They both complement and contrast the colourful figurative bird imagery by Western Aranda/Arrernte artists Rahel Ungwanaka and Clara Inkamala.